Anyone still doubting Team USA? They've manhandled two of the best teams in FIBA. Like I said before, USA is back to the old days of domination.
This also seems to negate a lot of the "let's get together a collection role players" talk we heard four years ago when people were mentioning guys like Luke Ridnour, Kirk Heinrich, and Nick Collison as Olympic team members (the "hey whitebread, give the ball to LeBron!" strategy). After 3-4 years together the superstars have learned to play roles too. With all due respect to role players, even great ones like Shane Battier, when super-talented guys like Kobe and Wade and Bosh focus on the roles they are capable of performing them far better than anybody else on the planet.
Agreed, You have to give Coach K a lot of respect for not cow tying to the play all the superstar players regardless type of deal. And Colangelo for hiring Coach K..... Very nice move.. DD
I'm sure this is an annoying question, but where are the archived games at? I really don't want to miss a Team USA game
Here is one link discussing the FIBA rules changes effective 2010. http://toddwarnick.blogspot.com/2008/04/fiba-makes-giant-leap-adopts-nba-rules.html The trapezoidal lane will help Howard quite a bit. The compact lane combined with the extended 3-point line will make the "drive and throw out" plays less attractive to European teams. The more FIBA and the NBA become similar, the more advantage to USA basketball teams in the Olympics because the adjustment won't be as radical. I'd say the prospects for the future look pretty good as long as enough top-level NBA players commit to the Olympics. I think FIBA should adjust more, like adopting the cylindrical rule on goal-tending and cutting out the dirty moving picks (though it looks like Team USA has now figured out how to use both of these to their advantage). The NBA needs to adopt FIBA's rule of counting technical fouls as personal fouls.
Just watched the replay on my TIVO. Wow, talk about a statement game. "Perfection" is a tough word to use in the world of sports but it may apply to today's game. Team USA was completely untouchable and embarrassed their likely top rival. Anything can happen in a tournament like this but it's hard to imagine Team USA losing at any point, barring some type of colossal meltdown.
I heard that prior to the game, Team USA took a controversial photo where they all painted their face white and wore Geico Cavemen style hair on their faces and bodies. Anyone gut a copy of the photo?
the world has caught up my @ss...... our boys are still the best, and once FIBA changes its rules so it is more like the NBA, the beatings will be even worse.
That was...embarrassing. The level of athleticism and talent the USA has is really insane. We're almost winning off pure athleticism with a dash of talent. Most of our players aren't used to international rules yet (I would bet) yet we're still killing the competition. Anyone for the notion Spain threw this game? I doubt it. See you in the gold medal game, world! USA! USA! USA! USA! [they still have to play well to win]
Maybe some Spanish fans. They need to reach for something to deal with the fact that their team just got slaughtered. Now they are really squinting their eyes... as they cry in embarrassment.
No it won't. Greece scored on like 15 straight possessions at the World Games in 2006 and still only beat Team USA by 6. Our team is much better now and that ain't gonna happen. Hitting 3 pointers isn't hard when you can run your offense. But if the other team is contesting every basic thing you do, forget it. Only way USA doesn't get the gold is by beating themselves and playing stupid, lazy and unfocused basketball. They are completely in control of their destiny. Their "A" game for 40 minutes means it won't be competitive. No other squad can expend enough energy to stay with them. That all said, you have to play the games. An injury or two, getting distracted by the officials or [name another item] could bite and the unlikely can happen.
the other teams have closed the gap, there's no doubt about it (proof: look at the different situations of the dream team and the current team usa. the dream team didn't have to practice for games, they could establish an all star game like style and still beat every team by 30 points. the current team can't do that.). also, there's no doubt that the usa still has the best players in the world. that was never the question. other teams maybe have 1 nba star and 3 or 4 other players with nba potential. team usa is full of nba players. so it was always about those players taking the competition seriously and about forming a real team (with roles). they have now and you can see the results. the rule changes however won't make the gap bigger again like you suggested. think about it, it's pretty logical. the usa have the most talent of any country in the world. but the usa is still only one single country. until now we had fiba ball and nba ball. two different worlds. now fiba ball and nba ball will become more similar. that means that the rest of the world will play a more nba orientated style. when they get used to it the talent advantage will shift. like i said, the usa is still only a single country and can produce only so many great players. other countries will develop great players, too. and those players won't be used to the old fiba game like they are now. they'll be used to an nba orientated game. so in the end, basketball will get more global. and i believe that's a good thing. even for the nba. it'll take some time, though.
That's possibly true but only because the current US team has adapted to the rule change whereas previous teams have failed. The rules difference make a HUGE difference with post play and affect the US far more than any other team - for reasons that have been stated numerous times. The rules were the single biggest reason that inferior teams were able to upset the US in the last few tourneys. Wider lanes and shorter three point lines put post guys at a huge disadvantage - if you don't believe me ask Tim Duncan and Elton Brand, among others, who were fantastically effective in the NBA (Duncan becoming the greatest PF in NBA history) and rendered ineffective by the wide lanes and the closer help defenders. No team can come close to matching the US in post scoring. Yao is the only player currently who can do it and he has his limitations as we well know. If they expand the game to 48 minutes then it's reallly over - depth which already crushes teams will now leave them in cardiac arrest.
